“We’re not criminals”: Southwest Floridians caught in illegal arcade crackdown

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) - Across Southwest Florida, law enforcement agencies are ramping up raids on illegal gaming arcades, according to the Florida Gaming Commission — rolling machines out the door, seizing cash, and shutting businesses down.

At a recent WINK Listens event in Fort Myers, one senior told WINK Investigates that the crackdowns feel personal.

“It’s a disgrace. We need these arcades. It gives us a couple of hours to get out of our homes, go out and enjoy ourselves,” said Bill Shea Jr., a Southwest Florida resident. “We are not criminals.”

Shea spoke with WINK Investigates a few years after law enforcement raided an arcade in Lee County in July 2023. He says he was detained during the raid and later warned that returning to the business could result in a misdemeanor charge.

“They told us if you continue to come back to this arcade, you’ll receive a misdemeanor,” Shea said. “Why didn’t they have a sign on the door?”

Shea is pushing for the legalization of the establishments. 

“Not legalizing these places, it's wrong,” Shea said. “There are marijuana, cannabis stores all over Florida. They're legal, but we can't be legal. That's not right.”

Why arcades are illegal under Florida law

According to the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC), the legality of arcades comes down to money.

Florida law allows family-style amusement arcades — places like Chuck E. Cheese — where players can win non-cash prizes. What is not allowed are machines where players insert money and receive cash payouts.

“Once the location offers the machine where they put any money into it, that's when it becomes illegal,” said Alana Zimmer, Executive Director of the Florida Gaming Control Commission, in an exclusive interview with WINK Investigates.

Zimmer says many of the arcades being raided are unregulated gambling operations that do not pay taxes, do not meet payout requirements, and provide no financial benefit back to the state.

“For the legal establishments, they're required to have at least an 85% payout,”  Zimmer said.  “These other establishments may put it at a 10% payout because they're not being regulated.”

Due to the machines not being regulated, they can be manipulated. Zimmer says customers have no protection and no recourse if they are cheated out of money. She says protecting consumers is the main reason behind the raids.

“These establishments are not regulated, and they’re often set up in unsafe environments,” she said. “There’s often other criminal activity happening at the same locations.”

Zimmer added that other criminal activity they’ve seen in these establishments is drug deals. “They're not necessarily in the safest areas,” Zimmer said. “You'll have the windows blacked out.”

FGCC officials warn that customers who play at illegal arcades could face fines or jail time, though enforcement primarily targets operators and owners.

Currently, operating an illegal gaming arcade is a misdemeanor under Florida law — but that may soon change with new legislation proposed.

Why is there no reliable data on customers?

According to the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC), there are no reliable statewide metrics tracking who participates in illegal gaming arcades, including age or other demographic data.

“These are clandestine, criminal operations,” said Carl Herold, the Director of Law Enforcement for the FGCC, in a statement to WINK Investigates. “They do not keep transparent customer records, they do not cooperate with surveys, and any 'data' you might hear about tends to be anecdotal, inconsistent, or based on a small slice of cases.”

From an enforcement standpoint, Herold says the commission typically learns who is inside these locations through investigations and observations during raids and not through any formal or standardized data collection.

FGCC officials say they are cautious about making demographic claims that could be misleading.

“I would not characterize participation as mostly elders or seniors in any definitive way,” Herold said. “The customer base can vary widely by location, neighborhood, and the type of operation.”

Some arcades appear to cater to older adults, while others attract a broader adult crowd, according to Herold. Without lawful tracking or reporting, Herold says it would be irresponsible to assign percentages or present participation trends as statewide facts.

Push to increase penalties

The Florida Gaming Control Commission is backing a new bill, HB 189, that would make operating illegal gaming arcades a felony. 

“The biggest objective for us is that we change the penalties,” Zimmer said.

An arcade off Pine Island Road in North Fort Myers was raided less than three weeks ago. 

WINK Investigates went to the establishment to film parts of this story. We noticed the business was open, but within five minutes of showing up in a marked WINK News vehicle, around two dozen people walked out of the doors of the arcade, got in their cars and left. We can not confirm that any illegal gambling was taking place. 

Zimmer says current penalties are not enough to stop repeat offenders.

“We shut one down, and another pops up somewhere else the next week,” she said. “It’s like whack-a-mole.”

According to the commission, seizures of illegal gambling cash doubled from 2024 to 2025 — from $7 million to $14 million — and the number of seized machines increased by six times.

Zimmer says tougher penalties could deter operators and better protect vulnerable populations, including seniors.

The state is also pushing to expand law enforcement resources, including a proposed new regional office in Southwest Florida.

Where gambling is legal in Florida

Licensed slot machines are only legal at a limited number of locations in Florida, including Seminole casinos and a small number of state-approved facilities in South Florida. Information on legal gaming locations is available on the FGCC website.

Zimmer encourages anyone unsure about an establishment’s legality to verify it before playing.

“If it’s not one of those approved locations, and you’re playing slot-style machines, you’re at risk of being taken advantage of,” she said.

“If it's not at one of these eight facilities across the state, and they have slot machines and you're playing, you're at risk of being swindled and taken advantage of,” she said. 

Zimmer went on to say, “We absolutely support legal gambling. It’s been great for our State.” 

Still, Shea believes legalization for all locations is the way to go.

“People want the gambling,” he said. “The seniors want it.”

When illegal arcades are raided, machines are seized and stored as evidence for court proceedings. If the machines are ruled illegal, they are destroyed and removed from circulation.